01/06/2023
It is with extreme sadness and a heavy heart that we are formally announcing that JRM Auto Garage will be closing down on the 30th June 2023.
Commercial Rental Prices have exploded on the Gold Coast by 300% in recent years, it is now almost to the point where what we are asked to pay per week in rent was what we paid for the entire month back in 2019 which was only less than handful of years ago.
Given this huge increase in rental prices and the constant increases with things such as insurances, electricity and every day consumables we feel it is no longer viable to keep the doors open and to pass those costs onto you our fantastic loyal customers as we would have to double and or triple our servicing fees and labour rates to keep in front of the ever growing cost’s.
As everyone who comes here knows we are generally booked out 4-6 weeks in advance all year round and even though we could add another staff member in the workshop given we have three hoist’s we have a major issue with a lack of car parking spaces in our unit complex and out on the street, we have also experienced a major issue with theft in our complex with cars parked outside overnight which is why we don’t leave customer cars outside overnight anymore and this problem is getting worse by the month, this has also weighed heavily on our decision to close especially given the amount of big build Subaru's we work on and the very high dollar value of those cars and parts that come through our doors during the course of a year.
We have always said that actions speak louder than words and we let our customers do the talking for us and for a small Subaru Performance workshop in Ashmore we are super proud of our Workmanship & Reputation which has attracted regular repeat customers from far and wide including Bundaberg, Redcliff, Brisbane, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Ballina, Murwillumbah and everything in-between, we know it’s going to very hard to find you all a new place to take your cars so we can only suggest the following:
1) For our Gold Coast Customers we highly recommend Steve & Taylor Smith Automotive also known as Subi Teck at Nerang and there is also Herbie from Direct Automotive in Biggera Waters (I have known Herbie since my teenage years and he has operated his own workshop since 1982)
2) For all our customers from Toowoomba, Ipswich, Brisbane, Redcliff & Bundaberg I highly recommend that you all go and see Kris & Wendy at Rising Sun Subaru on the Sunshine Coast as it will be well worth the longer drive for some and less of a drive for others. (I have known Kris for 20 odd years way back in the early Rexie days when I still had my MY99 WRX),
3) For those down South I would go and see Seb & Mal at Alstonville Automotive Services as I’m sure they will look after you all very well and they know how to contact me personally if they got stuck with anything Subaru specific.
I (Rob) & Ian would like to personally thank each and every customer for your patronage and support over the last seven and half years, we have both come to consider many of you as our friends and I’m sure that we will see allot of you out at Track days, Skidpans and Cruise events as we will have more free time to attend all those events not having to work Saturdays anymore and hope to cross paths again at some point in the near future with all the rest of our customers that don’t attend these sorts of events.
It’s going to be an extremely sad day come the 30th June, we will be placing 99% of the workshop belongings into storage as there is nothing stopping JRM Auto Garage from coming back in the future should things return back to normal or an opportunity too good to refuse presents itself as I’m extremely confident we will see you all return back to JRM Auto Garage in the future to look after your pride and joy, if and or when that day eventuates.
Thank you all again and we wish you all the very best for the future and stay tuned to this page as it will remain open and if we recommence trading in the future it will be announced on here.
Rob & Ian
